This year was the 40th anniversary of Paper Lion, and The Lyons Press seized on the occasion--several months before George Plimpton's sudden death in September at age 76--to reissue, in elegant paperbacks, his six enduring sports books. (On Sept. 21, just five days before he died, Plimpton and his account of playing QB for the Detroit Lions were honored by the team.) All of them, originally published between 1961 and '87, take readers deep inside the world of the big leagues as Plimpton exquisitely narrates his misadventures as quarterback, boxer, pitcher, golfer and hockey goalie. The constants in the books are Plimpton's keen insight and rich, often hilarious voice.

On Sports, a smattering of some of Plimpton's best stuff excerpted primarily from magazines--including SI, Esquire and Harper's--was edited by Plimpton himself and includes a brief introduction by the author. The pieces cover nearly 20 different sports (all the ones you might expect plus rowing, stickball and grape-catching) and render vivid Plimptonian portraits of Vince Lombardi, Muhammad Ali and John McEnroe. You'll spend a day with poet Marianne Moore at Yankee Stadium in 1963, and you'll rediscover the immortal Sidd Finch not once but twice in these pages. Plimpton's work inspired a generation of journalists, and anyone else who stood to profit from this lesson: If the front door is closed, there is always another way inside. That's still worth learning, and Plimpton is still a marvelous coach.